The Honda Accord is sold as the Inspire in Japan. Mugen is Honda’s in-house tuning arm that churns out performance parts for their cars. To celebrate the completion of my 2008 Honda Accord coverage with a final review of the V6 sedan, it is interesting to see that the conservative new Accord can actually look good with the right add-ons.
Honda is displaying the OSM concept sports car at the ongoing British Auto Show. OSM stands for “Open Study Model,” and it is supposed to be an idea for a low-emissions roadster.
Mitsubishi is planning to unveil the 2009 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport at the Moscow Auto Show, of all places. The Pajero Sport is just another name for the pickup-based Mitsubishi Nativa that has been soldiering on unchanged for ages now.
Renault Middle East sent us news that they will launch a new midsize sedan in the GCC during September. They even sent us a teaser photo of the unnamed car, showing only a tail-light. That was enough for me to figure out that the car will be a rebadged version of the Korean-built Nissan-derived Samsung SM5.
Now that our old guide has been officially given a decent burial, our new Ultimate Car Buyer Guide has firmly taken over as the region’s best automotive resource. I might be tooting my own horn, but please direct me to a better source if there is one, so I can copy stuff off it, because personally researching all this information is a real pain. If you missed the latest cars that were added during the launch of our new guide, they are listed below. Also, if you have any older cars in mind which you’d like to see added to the ever-growing guide,
The unloved Kia Cerato is on its way to the grave. Not a bad car overall, it just couldn’t compete with the usual Japanese appliances. So much so that Kia has completely redesigned their new compact offering, now calling it the Forte.
While we were not sure whether the new-generation Nissan X-Trail would even make it here, one of our readers, Don, spotted a 2009 model on a flatbed towtruck on the Sheikh Zayed Road.
Honda’s advanced hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle came off the assembly line at the world’s first dedicated fuel cell vehicle manufacturing facility in Japan. After 19 years of development, the arrival of this “real world” fuel cell car is a step forward towards cleaner motoring. While expensive, the car will be available only on lease in the United States and Japan, in limited numbers.
The Kia Mohave is apparently for sale in the GCC already. We only find out about local Kia news through third-party sources, since the Kia’s regional reps generally suck at communication. I found out through a billboard on the street. We also believe the truck-based offroadable Mohave is only available in “280 hp” 3.8-litre V6 form. We already reported on the Mohave before. Anyway, I am using this opportunity to announce that from now on, I’ll start replacing the term “4WD” with the term “SUV” in reference to such vehicles.
One of our readers, Mohamad, pointed us to a thread at nissan-arabia.com, showcasing photos of a consignment of seven American-spec 2008 Nissan GT-R models which have made their way to Abu Dhabi for local customers who can’t wait till next year’s release of a GCC-spec version. The same reader also spotted a GT-R at a Nissan workshop in Dubai, probably used for technician training. Yet another reader, Don, spotted the all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima trundling around at a freezone in Dubai, which is the first real confirmation that the new Maxima is indeed coming to the GCC.